This application is in response to the NIH Support for Scientific Conferences and Scientific Meetings (PA-06- 041). It is intended to support the Fourth Annual Nanomedicine and Drug Delivery Symposium to be held at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, in Omaha on October 8-10, 2006. The need for the discovery and development of innovative technologies to improve the delivery of therapeutic and diagnostic agents in the body is widely recognized. The "next generation" therapies must be able to deliver drugs, radionuclides, therapeutic proteins and recombinant DNA to focal areas of disease or to tumors to maximize clinical benefit while limiting untoward side effects. The use of nanoscale technologies to design novel drug delivery systems and devices is a rapidly developing area of biomedical research that promises breakthrough advances in therapeutics and diagnostics. The objective of this conference is to provide a forum where scientists with diverse backgrounds specializing in nanotechnology, cellular biology, drug and gene delivery, bioimaging, and clinical translational research discuss the results of their latest investigations. By gathering basic and clinical scientists and trainees with diverse backgrounds but with the common interest in using nanotechnology in the delivery of therapeutic and diagnostic agents this conference will narrow the gap between these research communities. In the final analysis achieving the aim of the conference will contribute to the development of novel nanoscale delivery technologies for diagnostics and therapeutics that address unmet clinical needs. [unreadable]